Ask a Vet: Don T Let Your Dry Goat Get Too Fat

Ask A Vet: Don’t let Your Dry Cows get too Fat

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dear Dr. Weldy’s,

I have a dry cow that has been dry for too long and seems to be a little fat, is there anything I should worry about?

-Reader

Dear Reader,

There are many things we worry about with dry cows that have gotten too much condition. When cows aren’t milking, they don’t use as many calories to maintain a pregnancy. If they are dry for too long, they end up getting too many calories over time and putting on more cover. Over time their metabolism also slows down and the mineral distribution in the body changes. This can lead to many problems when the cow freshens and the body undergoes a drastic increase in energy and calcium demand. These problems include milk fever, ketosis, DA, fatty liver, retained placenta, and mastitis. Milk fever and ketosis tend to occur within a couple of days after calving because the cow’s body cannot keep up to the demands for energy and calcium that are needed to produce milk. The cow may at first appear weak or she may be found down and unable to get up. Both of these problems can be easily treated by giving the cow what she lacks (ex: calcium or dextrose). Fatty liver can also be a problem shortly after calving because the liver is trying to break down the fat and therefore can’t do some of its other jobs to keep the body working. Fatty liver takes more time to fix because we are giving medicine to help the liver repair itself. Although treatment is typically easily achieved, these three problems can lead to changes in the body after calving that makes a cow more prone to problems with displaced abomasum, mastitis, and retained placentas. Overall, a cow that has had these problems at the beginning of a lactation can lead to a decrease in milk over the whole lactation and even difficulty in rebreeding. It is much easier to prevent these problems before they occur, in order ensure a more productive lactation. The main problem to avoid is getting a dry cow over-conditioned or too fat. Knowing how long cows have been dried off and closely monitoring how much they are eating is a good baseline. It is best if a cow is dry for about 60 days. Another tool to use is to step rations for your dry cows. The cows that just left the parlor have the lowest calorie needs and can be fed the least energy dense feeds. As cows get within 30 days to 2 weeks before calving their ration needs to start getting closer to the ration that is fed to the milking cows. That way the metabolism can start to change before calving and their body is ready for the abrupt change. There are also ways to feed mineral during the dry period to help prevent problems. If you have questions about setting up rations for your herd, you should work with your veterinarian and your feed representative to get the best results.

-Dr. Lynne Statler